Waltrip, on the lookout for reckless drivers, has No. 9 spot at Pocono

July 21, 1991

LONG POND, PA. ZHC GPB — LONG POND, Pa. -- Darrell Waltrip drove one lap last year to make some points. Now, at Pocono International Raceway, he's got a point to make.

Two weeks ago in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, Waltrip was involved in a crash that sent his car tumbling end-over-end, reducing it to a twisted heap.

He suffered only minor scratches and bruises.

In the 1990 Pepsi 400, Waltrip broke his left leg, kneecap and arm in a practice collision.

At Pocono last year, he couldn't even climb into his Chevrolet without help. He got behind the wheel and drove one lap for Winston Cup points.

He'll race from the ninth spot in today's $604,460 NASCAR Miller Genuine Draft 500, bothered not so much by injuries as by the recklessness of other drivers.

Waltrip says some don't know how to control their cars better in traffic on the faster speedways, such as Daytona and Talladega.

"Daytona and Talladega are just two racetracks that you just can't bump into people," Waltrip said yesterday.

"I don't know how many bad wrecks it takes," Waltrip said. Maybe, he said, he could learn something from his Daytona wreck. "I learned that the other guys ain't learned nothing."

He also had a sore left shoulder, scratches on the left side of his face and a black left eye from Daytona. No lingering effects were visible yesterday, though he said his shoulder still is sore.

Toronto Molson-Indy

TORONTO -- Driving a "nearly perfect" lap, Michael Andretti broke the track qualifying record and won the pole position.

Andretti, about as hot as the 90-plus temperatures outside the cockpit of his Chevrolet-powered Lola, was the first of five drivers to break the 60-second barrier on the 1.78-mile, 11-turn temporary circuit.

After winning the provisional pole on Friday with a lap of 60.007 seconds, Andretti retained control of the top spot yesterday from the moment the fast competitors hit the track.

He had several quick laps, finally getting his time down to a sizzling 59.077 seconds, a speed of 108.469 mph. The previous record of 59.499 (107.699 mph) was set in 1989 by Emerson Fittipaldi, who came back late in the 30-minute session to regain the outside spot on the front row for today's 103-lap event.

Fittipaldi wound up at 107.616, followed by defending race and series champion Al Unser Jr. at 107.497, current points leader Bobby Rahal at 107.251 and Mario Andretti at 107.001.